Wow. Just wow, guys. You're all awesome. You broke my inbox with all the reviews and favourites and alerts. Thank you :)
Thought I should say, I haven't seen Captain America, nor have I read any of the comments so sorry if I say anything that doesn't make sense.
I know this is a little later than promised, sorry about that.
..
"Why can't you ever do as you're told?" Tony decided that Bruce sounded more annoyed than the situation warranted.
"Sorry mother," he replied, letting his humorous irritation show in his voice. "I was busy trying to save the world." He thought he heard Banner scoff and he chuckled quietly. From the rooftop he was perched on he had a good view of the destruction the beast had caused whilst remaining out of sight.
The being itself was easily twelve feet tall, with horns protruding out from under a thick metal helmet. It was vaguely humanoid, but its torso was covered in what appeared to be scales and though its legs were short, they were as thick as trees. Combined with the layers of muscle that wrapped around its arms, the creature looked tough. Tony thought it resembled a troll somewhat. He had had Jarvis running remote scans to try and determine how much force would be required to break through the protection and take down the beast. So far, there had been little success.
"What are we dealing with Stark?" The plan was that Natasha would stay in the jet and control the machine gun, whilst the others would do what they could from the ground.
"I'm not really sure. It's going to take a lot of fire power to take this thing down."
"We can do that," Clint supplied, giving Tony a strong impression that he was smirking.
"Wait till you see it," the billionaire warned half heartedly. "How far out are you guys?"
"Another few minutes. Stay where you are," the assassin warned, long since used to Stark's inability to wait for any meaningful length of time.
"Ughh, you guys just like killing my fun, don't you?" He griped. If he was being honest, he really didn't want to have to go up against the troll alone, but they others didn't need to know that.
He heard the jet before he saw it, and suddenly his team members were beside him, taking in the damage in silence. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Steve's jaw clench convulsively. Nothing hit the soldier harder than the thought of innocents being harmed, ever the gentleman that he was.
"Plan of attack?" Tony threw at the captain, keeping his voice low to try and remain hidden from the beast. From what he had worked out, it had the hearing of a bat.
"Attack," he replied grimly, but with a soft smile. Stark remembered the exchange, and stole a look at Thor who stood firm at his side. How far they had come since then. "Clint you stay here, try and find weak spots we can aim for. Thor, you're pretty much indestructible, so you and Banner go at it head on. If you can't get past its defences, at least you can keep it distracted."
"You're making us targets? Remind me to get a new job," Bruce muttered. Stark chuckled only to receive a glare from the captain.
"What?" He tried to go for innocence. Steve shook his head as though he was very disappointed in him, but said nothing. Tony had realised early on that the captain had a knack for making you feel small, but he'd never quite found a way to avoid it. He squirmed uncomfortably.
"Stark, you're going to try and get through that armour. Whatever you've got, just get us an opening."
They all nodded. No one quite knew how, but Steve had become their unofficial leader, not that any of them minded. With their different skills and personalities they needed someone who could organise them into the powerful force they needed to be.
Without further comment, Tony jumped into the air, giving himself over to his instincts. The beast swivelled around at the noise, tiny black eyes focussing directly on him. It was a little... disconcerting. With a gulp, he threw himself forwards.
..
"We can't keep this up. We have to finish this, now," Stark pointed out, picking himself up for the hundredth time. Whatever the troll was, it could certainly pack a punch. Even through his armour he was bruised and battered. The creatures scales were nigh on impenetrable, no matter how much fire power Tony threw at the thing – and his new reactor was pumping out power like he'd never known. Hulk's punches glanced right of the beast and it seemed thoroughly unaware of Mjolnir's blows.
The team was faring less well. Clint was almost out of arrows, Steve and Thor were both tiring and Tony was having to cope with a significant amount of pain. If Banner's alter-ego was having problems, Stark wasn't really able to tell.
"If you have any ideas, please share with the class!" Steve was breathing hard, his movements sluggish and weary. Soon enough, this was going to end in disaster.
"I'm thinking!" He snapped back, having to twist violently mid-air to avoid a boulder-sized fist. The swing clipped his leg however and the thrusters on his feet swerved to the side, sending him hard into the pavement. He lay there for a moment, completely stunned with stars flashing in front of his eyes. Above him the creature was growling and he rolled over in time to see it raise an enormous foot and stamp down, hard. The air was crushed out of him as he took the weight, and he felt a rib snap; His suit was strong, but it wasn't designed for this kind of abuse.
The others were shouting, and suddenly a flash of green flew over him and crashed into the creature's chest. The troll reeled backwards, taking the weight off Tony who gasped in relief. There was a pain flaring down his left side, but he tried to ignore it, focussing on getting himself back into the air. Someone was next to him, helping him up and in a vague sense he recognised the red of Thor's cape.
It was at that moment a sudden thought struck him. Even with his current power levels, he couldn't cut through the scales. But, he wasn't completely limited by the reactor in his chest. A smile overtook him as he jumped back into the air to find a suitable vantage point for this to work. He hoped that the Hulk could keep the beast distracted for a little while longer.
"I have an idea. I can get through the scales," he announced. From where he was, he could see Steve look towards him sharply.
"I thought you said they were too strong?"
"They are. But not if I had more power." Stark took the silence as meaning the others were not following him. "Thor, I need your help. Charge me up," he ordered, and then watched as the demi-god smiled in understanding.
"No, Stark." He hadn't expected Clint to have an issue with this.
"Why not?"
"If what Bruce said before is right, that thing in your chest is very close to frying your heart. I hardly think increasing its power is safe." Tony just blinked at him for a moment, stunned at how quickly he had made the leap. It was of course a risk, but then again so was fighting a strange space troll. He said as much to the others and Clint just scoffed.
"I still think it's a bad idea. Let it be noted, I did not agree to this."
"Fine. It's noted. Thor, charge me up." The demi-god didn't hesitate, just thrust his hammer towards the sky and waited. Clouds flooded the sky above them, and the hairs on Tony's neck rose at the electricity buzzing in the air. Lighting knifed down and engulfed Thor in a great elemental display of power. Having dispensed with the Hulk momentarily, even the creature stopped to watch what was going on.
He knew it was going to hurt – he was prepared. But when the lightning hit him, it took Stark half a second to control the natural urge to scream his guts out. Fire raced through him, and he channelled it down his arms to the thrusters on his palms. With a burst of energy that could have powered his entire tower for a week, his thrusters powered and shot a blast of heat at the creature. It hit it square on the chest, burrowing right through the armour plating and burying itself in the beast's chest.
Tony would never really be sure what happened then. The force of releasing the blast had sent him flying backwards, smashing him through a brick wall and leaving him sprawled on the floor. There was a moment where he couldn't feel anything beyond a slight ringing in his ears and he realised that something must be wrong. In his confusion it took him a minute to place the anomaly.
It was with a flood of inhuman terror he realised that the fire wasn't gone. The energy Thor had given him hadn't completely been expelled, and his suit couldn't deal with the excess. His palms were burning up under the intense heat and it was only under a combination of reflex and fear that he was able to rip off his gauntlets and cast them away.
There was something wrong with the reactor too. The light from it had turned a bright white and was shining like a beacon flashing in coordination with the intense waves of heat that were radiating through his chest.
He might have been shouting, screaming, pleading but he couldn't really be sure. He couldn't see, couldn't hear, and oh god it hurt. The terror was the final thing he felt before darkness overcame him and he passed out.
..
"Tony!" Steve was running before the creature had even hit the floor. As predicted the blast from the suit had gone straight through the armour and the beast had died almost instantly, but the captain didn't really care. Stark had been flung backwards and hadn't reappeared. He leapt through the hole in the wall just as the billionaire started shouting.
Stark was flat on his back, writhing in apparent agony. His gauntlets were laying next to him, revealing heavily burned hands, the wounds extending up his lower arm. The circle of light in his chest was pulsing and Steve had to shield his eyes momentarily against the glare.
"Natasha, get that jet down here, right now!" He screamed into his communicator as he rushed to Tony's side. His hands flitted uselessly over him, having absolutely no idea what to do. By the way Stark clawed at his chest something was very wrong with the arc reactor, but that didn't help Steve at all; it wasn't like he could just rip the thing out. He knew enough about the technology to know it was the only thing keeping the billionaire alive. "Where's Banner? He knows more about this tech than I do."
"Thor's helping him now. He's human. Just a little disorientated." Clint's voice was right next to him and he turned to see the assassin stood a few feet away, staring at Tony like he had seen a ghost. "What do we do?"
"You think I have any idea?" Steve looked up at him with desperation. Tony was still rolling around, moaning pitifully. Then all of a sudden, he went still. The two avengers dropped to his side, panic rolling off them in waves as Clint fought to remove the helmet. Once it was released the offending piece of armour was thrown to the side with more force than was really necessary.
"He's breathing," the archer confirmed after a tense moment. "But not for long I would guess. Where the hell is Bruce?" It was rare to see any of the team this worried.
"I'm right here," came his voice, followed immediately by the man himself as he strode over the rubble and broken glass barefoot, not even noticing that it should be tearing his feet to shreds. Being the Hulk had some advantages. He was missing his shirt and shoes, but S.H.I.E.L.D had designed some trousers* that stretched when he changed. Why they couldn't make an entire outfit was beyond him.
"What do we do?" Clint repeated, aiming the question at the doctor as he moved out the way to clear a path for him.
"We get him back to the helicarrier. He needs a new reactor by the look of it. I think. Tony never really explained how it works. I have no idea what to do," he despaired, looking at his friend who had turned paper white and was still flinching and shifting even in unconsciousness.
"I'm on the roof," came Natasha's voice over the communicators. "I can't get any closer thanks to the debris." She sounded stressed, and Bruce was surprised at the concern there. He hadn't thought that the beautiful assassin had really cared for the easy going billionaire, but he could have been wrong.
"We'll bring him to you." Steve informed her, motioning to Thor for help lifting him. Tony was in shape, but he was wearing a metal suit. On that train of thought...
"Clint, help me get his pieces of armour. We can't leave them here." The archer rushed off in search of the helmet as Banner ducked to retrieve the gauntlets.
'Let him be OK. Whoever can hear me,' he thought, 'just let him be alright.'
..
I didn't like the beginning segment of this chapter. It was just a sort of filler. So sorry about that bit :/
*Pants, for all Americans ;)
I sort of went under the assumption that this suit was like the Mark II in that it came apart into component pieces. It worked better :)
